Abstract
The retail sector has been identified as one of the biggest contributors to the productivity gap that persists between the UK, Europe and the USA. It is well documented that measures of UK retail productivity rank lower than those of countries with comparably developed economies. Intuitively, it seems likely that management practices are linked to a company’s productivity and performance. Significant research has been done to investigate the productivity gap and identify problems involved in estimating the size of the gap; for example the comparability of productivity indices, historical influences, general measurement issues, and varying sectoral contributions. Best practice guidelines have been developed and published, but there remains considerable inconsistency and uncertainty regarding how these are implemented and manifested at the level of the work place. Indeed, a recent report on UK productivity asserted that, “... the key to productivity remains what happens inside the firm and this is something of a ‘black box’”. Siebers and colleagues conducted a comprehensive literature review of this research area to assess linkages between management practices and firm level productivity. The authors concluded that management practices are multidimensional constructs that generally do not demonstrate a straightforward relationship with productivity variables. Empirical evidence affirms that management practices must be context specific to be effective, and in turn productivity indices must also reflect a particular organization’s activities on a local level to be a valid indicator of performance
Contents
1. INTRODUCTION
2. AN ASSESSMENT OF ALTERNATIVE MODELING TECHNIQUES
3. CONCEPTUAL MODEL DESIGN AND DATA COLLECTION
4. MANPRASIM V1: THE INITIAL SIMULATOR
4.1 Model implementation
4.2 Experiments
5. MANPRASIM V2: ENHANCEMENT OF THE EXISTING SIMULATOR
5.1 Model implementation
5.2 Experiments
6. CONCLUSION